


there's nothing for me but to love you

by BelovedCreation



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:25:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelovedCreation/pseuds/BelovedCreation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by Harriett's reblog of the following tumblr text post: "you’re safe as long as you don’t imagine your otp slow dancing to ‘the way you look tonight’ in their pjs in the kitchen of their new house at 3am with their heads resting on each other’s shoulders if you do imagine that then you’re ruined im sorry"</p>
            </blockquote>





	there's nothing for me but to love you

Nothing had gone well all day.

When Bea woke up that morning, it had been pouring like mad. The worst possible weather for moving day and the last thing she had wanted to do was slog through the wetness with boxes of precious belongings. Hero gave her a sympathetic look over coffee that morning.

“Just my luck,” Bea muttered to her cousin. “Fucking rain on moving day.”

Hero smiled in that special Hero way of hers. “Cheer up, you. Everything will be fine. We’re going to have a blast today.” She glanced at the stove clock. “But you’d better get dressed. Everyone should be here in twenty minutes.

No one arrived for another hour.

Bea and Hero were left to themselves to carry her worldly possessions through the rain and into the borrowed truck. Everything was soaked and practically loaded up by the time Ben arrived.

“What did I miss?” he chirped ignorantly in that special Ben way of his.

“You missed the damn move,” she growled, flipping her soaking hair behind her shoulder.

Ben looked at his watch in confusion. “Eh? I thought you said to be here at 11:00.” He gestured to the small crowd. “We all went out for breakfast.”

Bea grit her teeth. “I said 10:00, you idiot. We have to get this truck back before 1:00 or it will be double the price.”

Five more hands made the rest of the job go by in a flash. Bea was beginning to hope that they could drop off the truck in time. But when they arrived at Ben’s and saw the huge pile of his stuff, her hopes plummeted again.

Ursula dropped a box and shattered Ben’s favorite lamp. Fear struck Bea when Ben escorted her into the storage room and showed her the exact extent of his comic book obsession. Hero spent a half an hour emptying a room of possessions Ben was not taking with him. The rain poured harder.

Bea was ready to kill someone.

It was nearly 2:00 by the time they pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Bea and Ben spent fifteen minutes hunting down the super, whose number Bea had apparently written down wrong. When they did find him, he made them wait while he finished fixing some leaky pipes.

Ben started massaging Bea’s shoulders and begged her not to kill the super. “I don’t want to get blood all over our new apartment,” he whispered. As annoyed as she was, Bea couldn’t help but smile at the way he said  _our new apartment_.

Everything got loaded into 305 with little incident, and even the rain seemed to let up a bit. Balthazar ordered food for everyone, and the group indulged in a merry feast when everything had been piled in. After cleaning up, the moving crew departed with waves and winks, wishing the couple a happy night of “settling” into their new place.

Bea sighed and looked over at Ben, slumped against the wall and looking utterly exhausted.

“C’mon, you,” she barked, marching over and offering a hand to help him up. “We need to return the truck before they charge us triple.”

Ben grumbled all the way out the door, pleading to be allowed to take a nap and relax. Bea’s irritation returned, and the two bickered the entire car ride. Even without triple price, the charge was still exorbitant, and Bea could feel her temper climbing to ever-greater heights.

By 7:00, the two were yelling at each other from opposite sides of the living room.

By 8:00, they were sulking.

Around 9:00 Bea suddenly realized they had no electricity. She scowled and stomped off to the bedroom, trying to forget that Ben was sitting in the dark in the kitchen. Despite her fatigue, she was restless. The room felt all wrong. The bed felt too big. She tossed and turned for over an hour.

She woke up some time in the middle of the night and felt at peace. It was Ben, his arm curled around her middle. His warm breath pleasant against her shoulder. His body heat comforting under the cocoon of blankets. Her hand found his and she squeezed.

“Ben?” she whispered. He didn’t respond. “Ben?”

“Huh?” he mumbled, slow to return to consciousness. “Wassit?”

“I’m sorry.”

“S’okay, Bea,” he said, his words slurred. “We’re okay.”

She cuddled closer to him, wrapping his arm around her more tightly. “I know.”

She awoke later and it was still night. The moonlight streamed in through the bedroom window, illuminating Ben’s alert face. She was about to ask him why he was awake when she realized it must have been what had woken her as well: the music.

Ben tugged on her arm, pulling her out of bed. “C’mere,” he smiled. He led her to the kitchen, where the sound was stronger. They peered out the kitchen window, cheek-to-cheek, and caught a glimpse of the scene from the apartment across the way. An ancient couple was turning about in their own kitchen, a gramophone sitting next to the window. It was playing an old song Bea had heard a million times.

_Some day, when I’m awfully low_  
When the world is cold   
_I will feel a glow just thinking of you_   
_And the way you look tonight_

He offered her a hand and that crooked Ben smile. “Dance with me?” She looked down at her ratty pajamas and hesitated.

_Yes, you’re lovely, with your smile so warm_  
And your cheeks so soft   
_There is nothing for me but to love you_   
_And the way you look tonight_

“C’mon,” he pressed and Bea gave in. She sank into his arms and it was like coming home. He was warm and soft and his arms were an anchor in the craziness that was this day. He was steady. He was safe.

_With each word your tenderness grows_  
Tearin’ my fear apart   
_And that laugh..wrinkles your nose_   
_Touches my foolish heart_

“Bea,” he muttered, his voice muffled by her her hair, “do you think we can do this? Really do this? Or will we kill each other first?” His tone was cautious and it nearly broke her heart.

_Lovely … Never, never change_  
Keep that breathless charm   
_Won’t you please arrange it? ‘Cause I love you_   
_Just the way you look tonight_

She worked her fingers in circles along his back, creating patterns that she hoped would sooth away his worries. “I think we can,” she breathed. “And I think we already are.”

_Mm, Mm, Mm, Mm,  
Just the way you look tonight_ 


End file.
